Last Updated: June 14, 2026
Santhan Spiritual Center (SSC) operates https://gothenburgtemple.com (the "Website"). We are a non-profit organization dedicated to Hindu spiritualism, based in Gothenburg, Sweden.
We act as the Data Controller under the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for the personal data collected through this Website. We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your data transparently, legally, and securely.
This Privacy Policy describes how Santhan Spiritual Center (SSC) ("we", "us", "the organization") collects, uses, stores, and protects your personal data when you register for a membership, renew a subscription, or make a donation via our website https://gothenburgtemple.com.
We are committed to protecting your personal privacy and always comply with applicable data protection laws, including the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and supplementary Swedish legislation.
SANTHAN SPIRITUAL CENTER (SSC) is the data controller responsible for the processing of personal data on this website.
Organization Number (Organisationsnummer): 8025536403
Postal Address: c/o PHANINATHA SARMA AYALAVAJJALA, Skogsmilsgatan 35 Lgh 1102, 421 37, Gothenburg
Privacy Contact Email: gothenburgtemple@gmail.com
When you interact with our website to provide financial support or become a member, we collect the following information via our digital forms and checkout system (WooCommerce):
Identity Data: First name and last name.
Contact Data: Email address (required to send your digital PDF receipt) and, where applicable, postal address or city (often required by Stripe to verify card details and prevent fraud).
Transaction Data: Payment method (Swish or credit card via Stripe), date, time, and amount.
Security Note: We never store your credit card numbers, bank account numbers, or full payment details on our own WordPress servers. All sensitive payment data is handled directly via encrypted, PCI-DSS certified connections by our external payment partner, Stripe.
To ensure our handling of your personal data is lawful under the GDPR, we rely on the following legal grounds:
Performance of a Contract: When you sign up for an annual or lifetime membership, we process your contact and identity data to register your membership, send out organizational information, and administer your membership benefits.
Legal Obligation: When you complete a payment (donation or membership fee), we are required by the Swedish Accounting Act (Bokföringslagen) to retain reliable transaction records and vouchers as proof of the organization's income.
Legitimate Interest: For one-time donations, we process your email address based on our legitimate interest to immediately generate and deliver your digital PDF receipt and to thank you for your support.
We never sell, rent, or forward your personal data to third parties for marketing purposes. To operate our system and automate your receipts, we share necessary data with the following trusted partners:
Stripe Inc.: Processes credit cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. Stripe securely saves encrypted payment tokens for annual subscriptions to process automatic membership renewals.
BjornTech AB: Functions as our official technical supplier for Swish e-commerce. When you pay using Swish, your transaction data and mobile number are securely passed through BjornTech's hosted pipeline to communicate in real time with your bank and mobile BankID.
SiteGround: Our web hosting provider where our WordPress database and WooCommerce are installed. All data is stored on secure servers within the EU (Frankfurt, Germany).
Email Verification and Spam Prevention: To secure our forms against spam and ensure valid communication for events and volunteering, we use a third-party service (MyEmailVerifier) to check email addresses in real time via an encrypted connection. Under our commitment to data minimization, only your email address is shared for this instantaneous check—no names, phone numbers, or other personal data are ever transmitted. While Gothenburg Temple retains your registration details on our secure website to manage events, MyEmailVerifier never sells or shares your data and automatically deletes your email from their processing logs within 30 days. This processing is conducted based on our legitimate interest (GDPR Art. 6(1)(f)) to prevent fraud and maintain reliable contact with our event volunteers.
We do not store your data for longer than is necessary to fulfill the purpose of the collection or what is required by Swedish law.
Completed Payments & Receipts: Stored for 7 years. This is strictly required by the Swedish Accounting Act for all financial records, which supersedes the GDPR's rule on data deletion.
Active Memberships: Stored for as long as the membership is active to fulfill the annual agreement.
Cancelled/Expired Memberships: Routinely cleared or anonymized 12 months after the membership has formally ended.
Failed or Cancelled Orders: Automatically cleared from WooCommerce after 14 days since no financial transaction occurred.
You own your data. You have the right to contact the organization at any time to exercise the following rights:
Right of Access: You can request a free copy of all the data we have stored about you (WooCommerce orders, account details, and form submissions).
Right to Rectification: If your contact details are incorrect, you have the right to have them corrected.
Right to Erasure ("Right to be Forgotten"): You can request that we delete your personal data from our systems. An exception is made for transaction history, which we are legally obligated to keep for 7 years for accounting purposes.
Right to Withdraw Consent: You can cancel an ongoing automated card subscription at any time via your user profile.
If you believe that we are processing your personal data in violation of the GDPR, you also have the right to file a complaint with the Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection (IMY).
Under GDPR Article 9, data revealing religious or philosophical beliefs is considered "Special Category Data" and carries stricter protections.
By signing up for a membership or interacting closely with a Hindu spiritual temple, your association with us inherently implies a religious or philosophical link.
We process this specific context safely under GDPR Article 9(2)(d), which explicitly permits non-profit bodies with a religious or philosophical aim to process such data, provided it relates solely to our members or regular contacts, and is never disclosed outside the organization without your explicit consent.
Our website uses cookies to ensure basic site functionality, measure site traffic anonymously, and optimize performance. You can choose to accept or refuse cookies via your web browser settings.
If you have questions about how we manage your information, or wish to invoke your data rights, please contact our administrative team:
Santhan Spiritual Center (SSC)
C/O Phaninatha Sarma Ayalavajjala, Skogmilsgatan 35, Lgh 1102, 42137, Gothenburg, Sweden
Organizationnummer: 802553-6403
Email: gothenburgtemple@gmail.com
Right to Complain to Authorities
If you believe we are mishandling your data and fail to resolve it with us directly, you have the right to lodge a formal complaint with the Swedish Data Protection Authority:
Integritetsskyddsmyndigheten (IMY)
Box 8114, 104 20 Stockholm
Email: imy@imy.se
Website: www.imy.se
We reserve the right to update this policy to reflect technical changes on the website or new legal directives from authorities.
This website (the Ganesh Laddu Auction platform) is a separate, event-specific system set up to support a single community fundraising auction, distinct from our main website's membership and donation systems described above. It is not a permanent part of our digital infrastructure. Once the associated event has concluded and any necessary post-event administration (such as sharing results with participants) is complete, this platform will be decommissioned and the personal data it holds will be deleted, except where we are legally required to retain transaction or financial records for a longer period (see Section 5).
Voluntary Participation. Participation in this Ganesh Laddu Auction is entirely voluntary. By registering and taking part, you confirm that you are doing so of your own free will, wholeheartedly, and without any inducement, coercion, undue influence, or pressure of any kind from any person or organization. This is a religious, community-organized fundraising event, not a commercial venture, and bids are made purely as an expression of voluntary devotion and community support.
No Legal Claims or Disputes. By registering, entering your one-time verification code, and/or placing any bid on this platform, you acknowledge and agree that no participant, bidder, or user has any right to raise, assert, or pursue any legal claim, allegation, dispute, or action of any kind - whether civil, criminal, commercial, or non-commercial, and in any country or jurisdiction - against Swaray (swaray.in), Gothenburg Temple (gothenburgtemple.com), Santhan Spiritual Center, or any individual or organization connected with hosting, developing, administering, or supporting this platform or event, arising out of or relating to your registration, participation, any bid placed, or the outcome of the auction. No such dispute, commercial or non-commercial, will be raised, agreed to, or accepted through this platform.
Role of Swaray (swaray.in). Swaray is engaged solely as a technical hosting and software development service provider for this event. Swaray has no ownership, organizing role, or decision-making authority over the auction, is not a party to any transaction between participants and the organizers, and bears no legal connection, responsibility, or liability whatsoever in connection with this auction, its conduct, or its outcome.
Mandatory Acceptance. Before registering and before entering the auction (at the one-time verification code step), you will be asked to explicitly confirm that you have read, understood, and accepted this Privacy Policy and these Terms in full. Registration and participation cannot proceed without this confirmation.
🙏 Ganesh Chaturthi